Thailand - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 720

Try the green fish-ball curry (B100) and put the fire in your
mouth out with home-made coconut sorbet. Mon-Sat
10.30am-8pm.
Kway Jap Yuan Khun Daeng Th Phra Athit T 085 246
0111; map p.715. Bustling canteen serving delicious kway
jap yuan (noodle soup) - go for the “extra” version with
egg (B57) and you're set up for the day. Find it in an historic
shophouse, unmistakeably painted white and green.
Mon-Sat 11am-9.30pm.
★

hotel restaurant in Bangkok, in an elegant setting among
lotus ponds; well worth a splurge (dishes from around
B350). Try the pomelo salad and the red curry with duck
and apple. Daily noon-3pm & 6.30-11pm.
Dosa King Soi 11/1, Th Sukhumvit T 02 651 1700; map
pp.712-713. Usually busy with expat Indian diners, this
vegetarian Indian restaurant serves delicious food from
both north and south, including more than a dozen
different dosa (southern pancake) dishes, tandooris and
the like. Most dishes B100-200. Daily 11am-11pm.
Home Cuisine Islamic Restaurant 186 Soi 36,
Th Charoen Krung; map pp.712-713. A short, cheap menu
of very good Indian and southern Thai dishes, including
delicious khao mok kai (B85), a kind of chicken biryani,
served with pickled aubergine. Mon-Sat 11am-10pm,
Sun 6-10pm.
Home Kitchen (Khrua Nai Baan) 94 Soi Lang Suan;
map pp.712-713. Congenial, unpretentious restaurant on
whose inexpensive Thai and Chinese picture menu you're
bound to find something delicious, such as kaeng som , a
curried soup with shrimp and acacia-shoot omelette
(B150). Daily 8am-midnight.
Jim Thompson's Restaurant Jim Thompson's House,
6 Soi Kasemsan 2, Th Rama I T 02 612 3601; map pp.712-
713. A civilized, moderately priced haven with delicious
Thai dishes (around B200) such as grilled mushroom salad
as well as desserts, cakes and other Western food. Daily
noon-5pm & 7-11pm.
Khrua Aroy Aroy 3/1 Th Pan; map pp.712-713. In a
fruitful area for street food (there's also a night market
across Th Silom on Soi 20), this simple shophouse stands
out for its choice of cheap, tasty dishes such as chicken
massaman curry (B90). Daily 8am till about 7pm, or when
the food runs out.
★

10

May Kaidee W maykaidee.com. May Kaidee is some-
thing of a Bangkok institution and now serves her excellent
Thai vegetarian food at two locations, as well as running
cookery courses (from B600). One streetside restaurant sits
on a lane off the east side of Th Tanao (map p.715), while
a/c May Kaidee 2 is at 33 Th Samsen (opposite Soi 2; map
p.715). Most dishes B70-90. Both daily 9am-10pm.
Navy Club (Krua Khun Kung) Tha Chang T 02 222
0081; map pp.712-713. The real draw here is the shaded
terrace built right over the river, immediately on the south
side of the express-boat pier (though you have to walk
around, through the navy compound to get to it), where
you can enjoy excellent dried prawn and lemongrass salad
(B120) and other marine delights. Mon-Fri 11am-2pm &
4-10pm, Sat & Sun 11am-10pm.
Padthai Thipsamai 313 Th Mahachai (no English sign)
T 02 221 6280; map p.715. The most famous phat thai
in Bangkok, flash-fried by the same husband-and-wife team
since 1966. The “special” option is huge, comes with especially
juicy prawns, and is wrapped in a translucent, paper-thin
omelette. Daily except alternate Wed, 5.30pm-1am.
Popiang Soi Ram Bhuttri; map p.715. Very popular place
serving freshly cooked seafood for rock-bottom prices
(plates of BBQ mussels B80, squid B140). Testament to
the rule that the worse the decor is, the better the food.
Claims to open 24hr.
Roti Mataba 136 Th Phra Athit; map p.715. Famous
outlet for very cheap fried Indian breads, or rotis, served
here in lots of sweet and savoury varieties, including
with vegetable and meat curries (from B51), and with
bananas and condensed milk (B35). A good place to
watch the world go by. Tues-Thurs 10am-9pm, Fri-Sun
9.30am-9.30pm.

Ramentei 23/8-9 Soi Thaniya, Th Silom; map
pp.712-713. Excellent Japanese noodle café: bright, clean
and welcoming. The open kitchen turns out especially
good, huge bowls of miso ramen (B200), which goes very
well with the gyoza dumplings (B130). Daily 11am-2am.
★

Taling Pling Baan Silom Arcade, corner of Th Silom
and Soi 19 T 02 236 4829; map pp.712-713. One of the
best Thai restaurants in the city outside of the big hotels.
The house deep-fried fish salad (B145) and the green beef
curry (B145) with roti are both delicious and the atmos-
phere's relaxing, too. Branches in Siam Paragon and
Central World shopping centres. Daily 11am-10pm.
Tongue Thai 18-20 Soi 38, Th Charoen Krung, in front of
the Oriental Place shopping mall T 02 630 9918-9; map
pp.712-713. Very high standards of food and service, in a
hundred-year-old shophouse elegantly decorated with
Thai and Chinese antiques. Veggies are well catered for,
while carnivores should try the beef green curry (B170).
Set lunch for B80 is currently on special offer. Daily
10.30am-2.30pm & 5.30-10.30pm.

DOWNTOWN
Cabbages and Condoms 6-8 Soi 12, Th Sukhumvit
T 02 229 4610; map pp.712-713. The Population and
Community Development Association of Thailand runs
this relaxing restaurant, decorated with condoms from
around the world and the slogan “our food is guaranteed
not to cause pregnancy”. Try the pomelo salad with chicken
and shrimp (B170); there's also a varied vegetarian menu.
Daily 11am-10pm.
Celadon Sukhothai Hotel, 13/3 Th Sathorn Tai T 02 344
8888; map pp.712-713. Consistently rated as the best Thai